SMolina

Can anyone recommend a company for a package to Ireland that includes air, B&B, car rental? We hope to travel in May 2005 concentrating on west coast.

wojazz3

http://www.oconnors.com/home.cfm
http://www.cietours.com
http://www.go-today.com/site_gtweb/index.asp
http://www.sceptretours.com/
http://www.shamrock.org/flash.html
http://www.isleinntours.com/defaultmain.htm

Those are a few. Or you can do it for substantially less (usually) with more flexibility by booking it yourself. Sometimes there are great package deals in the off season, but I've been traveling to Ireland in May for 6 years and I've never found a package deal as good as booking it on my own. If you live in a city that Aer Lingus flies from, you have a better chance for a good deal.

Bill

Bill

SMolina

Bill: Thanks for reply. I have looked at all the companies you suggested and was not sure if it was cheaper to do it myself. Can you tell me how you do the booking of B&Bs and car rental: local travel agent, internet, phone?
Thanks again

Budman

We booked with sceptretours on our first visit to Ireland, including air, rental car, and vouchers.

I did the math, including the loss of flexibility, and found it was much better to do it on our own.

autoeurope.com was excellent for us for the rental car.

Call the Irish tourist bureau in NY. They have a toll free # and will send you B&B book, farmhouse B&B book, plus a lot of other great information.

Search this site and you can get all kinds of great info and recommendations for B&B's, places to go, itineries, etc.

We went in May of this year. I think it is a great time of the year to go -- before the heavy tourist season.

Here's a copy of my recent trip report: http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...en_name=Budman

Here's a copy of Bill's: http://www.geocities.com/obeirne_ireland_2003/

This should give you a place to start. If you need any specific help, there are lots of experts on this forum that would be more than happy to assist you.

Happy travels.

lizard

was just in ireland for 3 weeks and rented hertz/oscannlin for 500 dollars for 21 day - you may be able do better shopping around but I thought that was reasonable - email - [email protected] and they have an office in Washington state 800 828 0826
lizard

allisonm

We recently came back from our 4th trip, this time for 9 days. We booked everything on-line, including the airfare, rental car (we used O'scannlain/Hertz, too, got a great deal) and our B&B's. Once you have an itinerary planned, post back here for some terrific advice. We may see you there in May if my husband gets his way! ...rhyme unintentional....

wojazz3

One way to decide on B&Bs is to figure you itinerary and ask for advice on places to stay here. There are lots of people that have stayed in lots of B&Bs and there is no shortage of good advice.

Car rental is an interesting question becuase of comparing apples to apples price-wise is not always easy. As Budman suggested, autoeurope is a good option, but so far, for the kind of car I look for (tiny with just enough rom for my wife and I and baggage to accommodate the tiny Irish roads), they have not had the best deal. O'Scannlain travel (http://www.oscannlain.com/) is offering 30% off Hertz rentals this year though I have not yet done the comparison. They were the cheapest for in in 2003, but I ordered a manual transmission. Many newcomers to left hand driving prefer the ease of an automatic and I believe their prices were a bit higher on that. Larger cars were alos more expensive with them. The advantage of O'Scannlain is that they are US based and are VERY helpful in the setup, especially where use of MC for CDW insurance is involved. Other options are:
http://www.budget.ie/
http://www.irishcarrentals.com/
http://www.dandooley.com/
You can book the car rental on the phone or over the internet. I wouldn't use a travel agent. They will just sell you a package that gives them a profit and cost you money.

The book that Budman suggests is by far the most comprehensive though for the most part, there are no rating in them. Some of them have the AA diamond rating attached if they are part of the AA network. Once again, a good place to get opinions on B&Bs is here. You can book them over the internet but I like to call them. With international calling so inexpensive now, I like to do that.

Speaking of trip journals, here are two of mine that are published on the net.

http://www.geocities.com/obeirne_ireland_2002/index.htm
http://www.geocities.com/obeirne_ireland_2003/

You'll need a nap part way through.

Bill

SMolina

WOW! So much good info. I'll check out all of your suggestions. And can't wait to see the trip reports. And I'll probably be back for more ideas. I feel better about everything already.
Thanks again for all the help!